ChurchPlanters.com "Giving You Permission"

See You At the Wall!

Sunday was another amazing day at Mountain Lake Church.  The question we asked is how do we respond to what God did over the past two weeks?  I mean how do we respond to 346 people going went public with their faith?  Our answer...create another splash!  So we challenged those who attend MLC to invite someone to one of our seven Easter weekend services next week.  For our commitment time we had them write that persons name on one of the walls in our worship auditorium.  Last time I did that I got a spanking.  Check out the picture of one of the walls.  It was absolutely amazing to see the people come...many with tears...slapping high five as they past one of our pastors.  I can't wait to see what God is going to do next week.  Bottom line...People matter to God!

On the  home front my wife got to talk to our son who in serving with the 82nd Airborne in Afghanistan.  If you keep up with the news you realize that the spring offensive has started.  This means the taliban are actively setting up ambushes on NATO and Afghan troops...they continue to reap havoc on the Afghan people.  Like my son, many young men are actively patroling the dangerous borders between Pakistan and Afghanistan.  Please continue to pray for our troops...david

Ripple Effect

Part 3 of H2O
This week I will be teaching on the Ripple Effect in our 5 weekend worship services.  Over the past two weeks we have experience some amazing life change stuff with 346 people going public with their faith through baptism.  The message will focus on the Great Commission which reminds me of a phone call I received a couple of years ago. 

A leader of a major evangelism organization called and wanted to interview me about our evangelism programs and methods.  The first question was "What evangelism program do you use?"  The second question was "How do you train your people to do evangelism?"  I responded to both questions that we didn't have any formal evangelism programs or training. I went on to explain to him that our church was the evangelist.  That everything we did was about removing all the barriers that separated people from church and ultimately God.  Our vision is to literally change the way people think about church...in order that we may change the way people think about Christ.  As a result people are coming and in the course of a few months or a few years they are becoming Christ followers and as a result and even before they become Christ followers they are leaving and going back to their family, friends, co-workers, and soccer buddies and telling them about this place and more importantly about this Jesus. 

This Easter we are leveraging all of our energy and resources to once again change the way people will think about church and to change the way they will think about Christ.  It is going to be awesome...d

H20-Over 300 Baptisms in Two Weeks

It has been an absolute amazing two weeks at Mountain Lake Church.  In the first two weeks of our H20 series we have baptized over 300 people.  The first weekend we Baptized 203 and the second somewhere around 140.  We are still waiting on the official count.  That is nearly 350 students and adults.  I is hard to take in all that God did and is doing...We saw things like:

• entire families being baptized,
• one lady return to be baptized after reconciling with her mother after 15 years,
• another lady was baptized who attended our very first service 7 years ago,
• several from other faith traditions finally took the big splash,
• still others came for the first time inviting Jesus into their lives and going public with their faith.

It was indeed, "abundantly  above all that we asked or could imagine" once again.  God is absolutely amazing. 

Removing Barriers

How do you baptize 203 people in one weekend?  God!  I mean let's give credit where credit is due and he deserves all of the credit and all of our praise.  Here is what I was reminded of...it is our responsibility to remove any barrier between those that are disconnected and Christ with the exception of the cross.  The cross is the only barrier that people must stumble over in order to find Christ. 

This is exactly what we did this weekend.  Our services were simple...1) We sang one song...2) We welcomed people...3) Shawn taught on Baptism.  It was a very simple message addressing the why behind the what.  4) We removed all the barriers we could identify...5) We challenged people to come...6) We celebrated their coming...7) We baptized them...8) We celebrated with a closing song...it was awesome. 

We did not tell anyone what we were doing...We had no idea how many people would come...We were just hoping someone would come.  In the end 203 people came from all kinds of background and spiritual experience. 

It seems to me that God always response in a direct proportion to the risk we take or the faith we exercise.  I believe Jesus said something about faith the size of a mustard seed moving mountains.

Imagine That...

I recieved an e-mail yesterday that the book Breaking the Missional Code is one of four finalist for the Best Outreach Resource of the Year Award given by Outreach Magazine.  Imagine that...I know its hard...I am humbled and honored. However, it helps when you have a co-author like Ed Stetzer. 

Ed is one of our Main Session leaders with our upcoming Church Planting Conference, Church Planting Redone, scheduled for February 26-27 at Mountain Lake Church where Shawn and I both serve as pastors.  Spaces are filling up quickly, so don't delay. Register now and guarentee your spot.

Today and tomorrow are the last two days of early registration which is $99.00. It is going to be awesome!  I'm getting excited about having Perry Noble, Ed Stetzer, Shawn Lovejoy, Matt Carter, Dave Fergurson, Gary Lamb, and others in the same room together...the house is going to rock. 

david

The Sin of Preferences

I woke up over in the night, I'm not sure if it was the Holy Spirit or the Chili I ate earlier that evening.  Anyway, from time to time I wake up with some missional thought on my mind.  Most of the time I tell myself, "Self, let it rest" and I go back to sleep.  This latest episode was about "preferences".  I was overwhelmed by the thought that I really like our church.  I love the music, teachings, small groups, people, etc.  I like everything about it, even down to the architecture. 

The thought that I couldn't shake was what if there were things about our church that I really like, but If I didn't like them so much other people would like it more.  By other people I mean people who are disconnected from Christ and the church.  What if I am guilty of making our church to much like me.  In our book Ed Stetzer and I talk about the "Sin of Preference".  Here is what we have to say...

"One of the most important considerations in breaking the code is to break from our own preferences.  Simply put, being missional does not mean doing things the way we like them.  It means to take the gospel into the context where we have been called...and to some degree, to let the church take the best shape that it can in order to reach a specific culture.  However, the problem is our preferences.  You can't be missional and pick what you like at the same time" (Breaking the Missional Code, page 50).

Well I've got to go...I really need to think about this one....maybe Warren is right, "It's not about me".  God help us...tell us what you think....david

The "Wow" Factor

         I’ve been reading through the book of Acts lately and that is always dangerous for me. Every time I read it I’m reminded of things that need to be brought back into God’s perfect will. One area I’ve been convicted about lately is the role that prayer and the Holy Spirit plays in the growth of the church.

         If there is a principle behind the growth of the church in Acts, it’s this: crowds gather best by the unexplainable work of the Holy Spirit.

         These days everyone is talking about the “wow” factor and the “buzz” factor when it comes to connecting new people to our church. Certainly there are TONS of things we can learn about how to connect with disconnected people and make their first church experience a great one. However, what I don’t hear anyone talking about is what is, in my mind, the ultimate “Buzz” and “Wow” factor: God!

Is it possible that some of us pastors have forgotten that what makes the church unique from every other slick organization is the power of the Holy Spirit working through the lives of people?   

Warren Wiersbe said: “If you can fully explain a church, then something is wrong.” Can you fully explain your church? Do you still think it is or is going to be the perfect church? Do you have your mission and your strategy all mapped out and fluid? If so, then get over yourself. Stop now. Get on your knees and ask God to take back control of your church. Ask Him to show up and create a “wow” factor in your church that will create “buzz” in your community.  Our “Buzz” and “Wow” is NOTHING without Him...shawn

Why Can't Church Be More Like Starbucks!

It has been almost a year since we did a series called Why Can't Church Be More Like Starbucks!  Not long after that we heard from one of the guys who had attended last year's ChurchPlanters.com Conference who did a series he called, Why Can't Church Be More Like Cracker Barrel!  For you guys who aren't from the southeast, Cracker Barrel is a restaurant that serves some awesome southern food complete with a storefront of nostalgic items you can buy from the past, along with a front porch complete with rocking chairs.  I mean it is quite the cultural experience.

He got it...This is what we mean when we talk about the church becoming the missionary.  Becoming the missionary or being missional means communicating the Gospel in a language that people understand without compromising it. 

Now here is what we are learning...cultural Christians do not like it when you do this.  Whenever we do a series like, Why Can't Church Be More Like Starbucks, When Jesus Went To Vegas, or Sexual Revolution we always get a reaction.  However, here is what we have decided...we would rather offend cultural Christians than those who are disconnected from Christ and the church. 

I know what some people are thinking...Can't you find some middle ground that everyone can feel comfortable with?  Jesus didn't!  He was relentless with his pursuit for those disconnected...often offending the religious crowd of His day. 

Just a reminder, church planting is about being the missionary.  It is about leveraging the church for the very purpose it was created.  Going missional can be dangerous business.  It got Jesus nailed to a cross by the culturally religious of His day.  Don't expect anything different.  Go for it....Why Can't Church Be More Like____________!  You fill in the blank...david

 

Maximizing Your Websites

We are not there yet, but we are getting there.  If you go to www.mountainlakechurch.org you will enter a portal page with three choices: guest and visitors, attenders and members, and church planters.  I think it is a really cool set up, but more important this is what I am seeing, more and more people are visiting our websites before they ever show up at church.  Yesterday Casey Graham one of our Pastors at MLC talked to dozens of first time guest to discover that they found out about our church through our website.  I couldn't help but wonder how many people had visited our website prior to this recent re-design and kept going.  If you visit our guest site and then visit our church you will be surprise at how similar the two experiences are.  Anyway I think we are on to something and the effort and cost are going to be well worth it.  Many are going to come and connect with Christ and the church.  If you are serious about connecting with culture you better invest in an awesome website....David

Creating Space for the Disconnected

In today’s context where there is high value placed on spirituality, those that are disconnected from Christ and the church need a safe place to experiment with faith. This may sound similar to the seeker churches of the 80’s and 90’s, but it isn’t. Those who are disconnected have shifted from being passive observers to active participants…often long before they’ve given their lives to Christ.

 In the height of the seeker movement, churches maximized environments by offering a version of church that required no participation, only observation. Most services were designed to communicate that faith was relevant to everyday life. The seeker often began his journey toward Christ with at least some understanding and preference for Christianity. His or her major question was, “Is Christian spirituality relevant to my life?”

    In today’s spiritual world the pendulum has swung. No longer are people asking questions about spiritual relevance. There is no doubt that spirituality is relevant. Matter of fact you are “in” if you have some type of personal spirituality and you are “out” if you are void of spirituality. In today’s spiritual world the question is framed differently. “Is Christianity relevant to my spirituality?”

    Not many years ago, people would become a follower of Christ before they were allowed to belong in any kind of meaningful community with other believers. You were an outsider until you were an insider. Today, people are entering community before they become. By the time someone is ready to embrace the Christian Faith they are well on their way to being disciples. No longer is conversion the entry point to this journey, but it is now a stopping off point somewhere well into the journey.

This shift requires that new churches rethink their approach to discipleship and be prepared for a more chaotic and less methodical approach. More relational. More messy. Less linear.  As Jesus began to attract his first followers in Mark 1: 17 we read, “Jesus called out to them, `Come follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!’” Jesus spent nearly three years investing in his disciples. It was messy. Certainly frustrating. When did they get it? When did they cross over the line of faith?  We don’t know for sure, but it happened...David